Sunday, August 02, 2015, 1:30 p.m.

State police to crack down on speeders, drunk drivers July 4th holiday

Arkansas State Police officers will be cracking down on drunk drivers and speeders to promote safe travels during the July 4th holiday, the agency said Monday.

Starting Saturday, state police and other local law enforcement agencies will join forces by increasing sobriety checkpoints and speeding patrols through July 14th.

In 2012, 552 traffic fatalities were recorded in the state and 143 of those involved a driver or motorcycle operator with a blood-alcohol concentration of .08 or higher. Speeding was a contributing factor in 76 of the total fatalities, police said. Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said official figures for 2013 were not yet available.